Matt's Travel Adventures

Wow, Hong Kong. As the first major asian destination for Morto and myself, Hong Kong is probably as westernised as we are gonna get. The train system rocks and is easy, but the ferry across the harbour is even better at about 25 AUD cents. But there are so many people around who seem to be going somewhere or seem to be doing nothing

The first real day took us in search of a geniune Hong Kong dim sum/yum cha into the heart of Hong Kong central. We didn't find a reasonalby priced place (aka dirt cheap) so we went to Kowloon in search of "Sneaker Street" and the Temple Street market for some bargains/trash.

We got off the ferry at Tsim Sha Tsui, greeted to the chorus of "You want Rolex?", "You want suit?". Within the first 30 minutes in Kowloon we got 8 dudes asking if we wanted Rolex's and 5 guys asking if we wanted a suit. To be honest after about 5 guys, I really wanted a Rolex, bad. But that is what we wanted to find at the Temple Street market, cheap shit.

After finding "Ned Kelly's Last Stand, Restaurant and Jazz Bar" our stomachs were truly rumbling. We finally found what we were in search of YUM CHA! This place was great, the manager a legend, the food cheap and the beer cold. This feast set us up well for a hard night making rounds of the Temple Street market.

It took a while for the market to get going, but once it did the stalls were great. Some sections contained "Erotica", the nastiest, rudest toys you have ever seen. Other sections were watches (CK and Swiss) and crap shirts, leather goods and bracelets.

We loved this market so much we came back the next day (today, we are in a net cafe above the market as I type this). But only after we found the elusive "Sneaker Street". Our trusty hostel manager showed us where this street was, in lonely planet "Fa Yeun St." but in his local Hong Kong map "Sporting Goods St.". This street contained non-stop shoe shops. Every single shop, except for a few were shoe shops. And not different shops selling different shoes. There were about 5 of the same shop and every shop was selling the same shit, all about 50% of the AUD price. But alas, my cursed feet, I asked a local shopkeep if he had a size 12 in stock (probably the smallest I could squeeze into), the guy nearly laughed in my face and said no. I asked if I could get them anywhere, to which he replied "In Hong Kong, No", shattering. Morto managed to find some shoes after about 2 laps of the street.

On our way home we stopped by the Temple street market, again. Where morton needed to by another discount shirt after the first one he bought turned out to be too small, but at $10 AUD ($60 HKD) they were a steal (but also a rip off considering we got Swiss watches, fitted, for $20 HKD, about $3.50 AUD).

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little homesick. The first night especially, getting to Hong Kong and realising that I was in a strange country and I wasn't totally sure what was going on. I miss everybody already. Hope to hear from you